Dec 7 Cafe – This is your brain on stress

This is your brain on stress

With Daniela Kaufer

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

1403 Solano Ave, Albany, CA

7:00-9:00 pm

Stress is an inevitable part of our life, and understanding the biology of the stress response is relevant to each of us. In this month’s Cafe, Professor Kaufer will talk about the biology of the stress response, and discuss when is the stress response beneficial, when is it detrimental and what are the underlying mechanisms that lead to stress resilience vs. vulnerability in different individuals.

Daniela Kauferis the Class of 1943 Memorial Chair Professor of Integrative Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. Her research focuses on plasticity in the brain throughout life, from birth to aging. Stress or injury can lead to mental illness, neurological impairment (epilepsy, specifically) and cognitive impairment in some people, while others thrive. Kaufer’s lab is studying how does the brain deal with perturbations like stress and brain injury and what are the mechanisms underlying resilience and vulnerability. Kaufer has published her work in journals including Nature Neuroscience, Nature, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular Psychiatry, Nature Medicine, eLIFE and Science. Professor Kaufer is the recipient of the 2010 National Institute of Mental Health Director’s New Innovator Award (BRAINS), as well as NARSAD Young and independent Investigator Awards, and the 2013 BAKAR fellows award.